What Is an HPI Check? (And What a Free MOT Check Can’t Tell You)

Short answer: an HPI check is a paid vehicle history report that tells you whether a used car has outstanding finance, has been recorded as stolen, or was written off by an insurer — the three things a free MOT check can never tell you. It takes a few minutes, it costs less than a tank of fuel, and it is the single cheapest insurance policy you can buy before handing over money for a used car.

Here’s the catch most buyers miss: a clean MOT history and a shiny car tell you almost nothing about the car’s legal past. A car can pass its MOT with flying colours while a finance company still legally owns it, while the police have it marked as stolen, or while an insurer wrote it off two years ago and someone patched it up. None of that shows up on the free checks. That gap is exactly what an HPI check exists to close.

Start with the free checks first: run the plate through our free MOT checker to see the test history and recorded mileages. Then, before any money changes hands, run a full history check — ours is the full MOT history checker, where a complete history report (finance, stolen, write-off and more) is available from our partner AutoAid for £6.99. The rest of this guide explains what that check actually looks at, what each result means, and what to do when one comes back red.

First, the name: HPI is a brand, not a standard

This is the part that confuses everyone, so let’s get it out of the way. HPI started life as Hire Purchase Information — a British company founded in 1938 that kept a register of cars with finance owed on them, so dealers could avoid buying a car somebody else still owned. The company, HPI Ltd, is still going (it’s now owned by the American firm Solera), and its check is still the best-known one in the UK. But the name has become generic, the way “hoover” means any vacuum cleaner. When a buyer says “get an HPI check”, they usually mean “get a proper vehicle history check”, whoever sells it.

That matters because the quality of a check depends on which databases it queries, not whose logo sits on the report. A good history check pulls records from the finance houses, the insurers’ shared register, the police, and the DVLA. CheckMyMOT is not affiliated with HPI, and we don’t sell an HPI-branded check. What we do offer, through our partner AutoAid, is a full history check that covers the same ground: outstanding finance, stolen markers, write-off categories, mileage, keepers and plate changes, for £6.99.

What an HPI check actually covers

A full check runs the registration through more than 80 data points. Most of them are background detail — previous keeper counts, plate changes, colour changes, import and export markers, whether the car was ever recorded as scrapped. The four that decide whether you buy the car or walk away are these.

Outstanding finance. Whether a loan, hire purchase (HP) or PCP agreement is still secured against the car. This is the big one, and the one that costs buyers the most money. Under an HP or conditional sale agreement, the finance company owns the car until the last payment is made — the person selling it to you does not. If you buy a car with finance still owed on it, the lender can repossess it, and you lose both the car and the money you paid for it. HPI’s own figures suggest around one in three cars it checks has some hidden history, and outstanding finance is the most common surprise in the pile.

Stolen marker. Whether the car is recorded as stolen on the Police National Computer. Buy a stolen car and you don’t own it — the police can seize it with no refund, and you may have awkward questions to answer about where you got it. A check catches this in seconds; a look at the car never will.

Insurance write-off. Whether an insurer has ever declared the car a total loss, and in which category. The categories are explained in full below — they are the difference between a bargain and a car that should never have been put back on the road.

Mileage and identity. Whether the recorded mileages add up (clocking is still common — see our guide on how to spot a clocked car from its MOT history), whether the VIN and engine number match the DVLA’s records, and whether the logbook (V5C) details line up. A mismatch here is often the first sign of a cloned car — a stolen car given the identity of a legitimate one.

The write-off categories, explained properly (Cat A, B, S, N)

When an insurer decides a damaged car isn’t worth repairing, it writes it off and assigns a category. The categories changed in October 2017, so older write-offs may still show the old letters — Cat C and Cat D — on their records. The current system works like this:

Two things to take from that table. First, Cat A and Cat B cars should never be offered for sale as driveable cars, full stop — if a check flags one, the deal is over. Second, Cat S and Cat N are not automatic deal-breakers, but they are not bargains either. A repaired Cat S car needs a proper structural inspection before you buy it, not just a glance at shiny paint. Expect higher insurance quotes, a lower resale value, and some buyers who simply won’t touch it. Price the car accordingly.

One more detail worth knowing: the write-off category is recorded on the V5C logbook, so a seller who shows you the logbook and a check that both say the same thing is being straight with you. A seller who won’t show you the logbook at all is telling you something too.

Outstanding finance: the risk that actually takes your car away

Of everything a history check reveals, outstanding finance is the one buyers underestimate most — because it feels abstract until it happens to you. The mechanics are simple. Most cars bought on finance in the UK are bought on hire purchase or PCP. Under both, the finance company owns the car until the agreement is paid off. The registered keeper named on the V5C is not necessarily the owner. A seller can be the keeper, have the keys, have the logbook, and still have no legal right to sell you the car.

If you buy it anyway, the finance company can repossess the vehicle. There is some protection in the law — the Hire Purchase Act 1964 generally protects a private buyer who buys in good faith, without knowing about the finance — but it is a defence you would have to argue after the money is gone, and it does not apply in the same way to every kind of purchase. Citizens Advice has a whole page for people this has already happened to, which tells you how often it happens.

The check itself is the easy part. Before you pay anything — including a deposit — run the history check, look at the finance result, and if it shows money owed, stop. Don’t take the seller’s word that “it’s nearly paid off” or “I’ll settle it on Friday”. The only proof that counts is written confirmation from the finance company that the agreement is settled, or a fresh check showing clear. If the seller won’t provide it, the car isn’t for sale at any price — because it isn’t theirs to sell.

What a free check shows — and what it can never show

This is where a lot of buyers get caught out, because the free checks are genuinely good at what they do — and what they do is only half the job.

The reason is straightforward: MOT and tax records are public government data, so they are free. Finance agreements, police stolen markers and insurer write-off records are not public — they sit in private registers (the finance houses, the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register, known as MIAFTR, and the Police National Computer), and access to them costs money. Anyone offering you a genuinely free check that claims to include finance, stolen and write-off data is not checking those registers. HPI’s own website says it plainly: there is no such thing as a free HPI check.

What a history check can’t tell you

A check is a data report, not an inspection, and it is worth being honest about its limits — a clean report is not a clean bill of health for the car itself. It can’t tell you about the engine, the gearbox or the brakes. It can’t tell you about accident damage that was never claimed on insurance — a private cash repair leaves no record anywhere. And it can’t tell you whether the service history is genuine, or whether the cambelt was actually changed when the stamp in the book says it was.

So the check is one half of a two-part job. The other half is looking at the car properly: a test drive, a look underneath, and ideally an independent pre-purchase inspection, especially for anything over a few thousand pounds. The check tells you whether the car is legally safe to buy. The inspection tells you whether it’s mechanically safe to own. Skip either one and you’re gambling.

How to run a check, step by step

1. Get the registration right. Read it off the number plate yourself, standing next to the car. Don’t copy it from an advert — one wrong character and you’re checking somebody else’s car. Also note the VIN (usually visible at the base of the windscreen or on the driver’s door frame) so you can compare it against the V5C later.

2. Run the free checks first. MOT history and tax status through our MOT checker — this also shows you the recorded mileages, which is your first clocking check.

3. Run the full history check before paying anything. Not after the deposit, not “once we’ve agreed a price” — before any money moves. Our full history checker gives you the complete report for £6.99 through our partner AutoAid. That is less than most branded checks (a basic HPI check starts at £9.99, and a full one from the big providers runs to £20–£30), and it covers the same registers.

4. Read the report, don’t skim it. A report that says “clear” on finance, stolen and write-off is what you want. Anything else needs an explanation in writing from the seller, not a verbal reassurance. Check the keeper count and plate changes too — a car that has had four keepers in two years and two plate changes deserves a question, even if the big three flags are clear.

5. Check the V5C against the car. The logbook should show the same VIN, the same registration, and the seller’s name and address as the registered keeper. If the seller says “the logbook’s in my wife’s name” or “I’m selling it for a friend”, that’s not a crime — but it’s a reason to be extra careful, and to make sure the history check comes back clean.

6. Never trust a screenshot. A seller who shows you a screenshot of a clean check result could be showing you anyone’s car. Run the check yourself, on your own phone, with the plate you read off the car. It takes minutes and it removes the one scam this whole system is most vulnerable to.

What to do when a check comes back red

Finance flagged: do not buy the car until the debt is cleared and you have written proof from the finance company. If the seller says they’ll settle it, let them settle it first, then run a fresh check. Your money should never be the thing that pays off their loan.

Stolen flagged: stop, do not buy, and report it to the police. There is no version of this where the car becomes a bargain.

Cat A or Cat B flagged: same — stop. The car should have been crushed. If it is being sold as a runner, something is badly wrong.

Cat S or Cat N flagged: slow down, don’t stop. Ask for the repair invoices and photos of the damage before repair. Get an independent inspection that specifically looks at the repaired area. Check your insurance quote before you agree a price — some insurers charge more, some won’t cover certain categories at all. And knock the price down: a written-off car is worth less than a clean one, however well it was fixed.

Mileage flagged: ask for the service history and old MOT certificates. If the numbers don’t reconcile, walk away — clocking is fraud, and a seller who has clocked the mileage has lied about the one thing you can measure.

How much does a check cost, and is it worth it?

A full history check from the big branded providers typically costs between £10 and £30, depending on the level of report. Our partner AutoAid’s full check is £6.99 through our full history checker. Either way, compare that against the price of the car. On a £5,000 car, a £6.99 check is 0.14% of the price — and it is worth it precisely when it finds nothing, because the value isn’t in the report, it’s in the cars you don’t buy. Every experienced buyer has a story about the clean-looking car that turned out to be on finance, or the bargain that had been written off twice. A £6.99 check is what stands between you and being the next one.

One last thing: if you’re financing the car yourself, check the finance angle twice. A car finance calculator will tell you what HP or PCP costs you each month — but it won’t tell you whether the car you’re buying is already someone else’s finance problem. Run the history check first, then work out the payments. If you want the full picture on what the free services cover, our guide to free used car checks in the UK explains each one.

Frequently asked questions

What is an HPI check?

An HPI check is a paid vehicle history report, named after HPI (originally Hire Purchase Information), one of the first companies to sell them in the UK. It checks whether a car has outstanding finance, has been recorded as stolen, or was written off by an insurer, along with mileage records, keeper history and plate changes. “HPI check” has become the generic name for this kind of report, whoever provides it.

Is a free HPI check real?

No. There is no such thing as a free HPI check — HPI says so itself. MOT history and tax status are free through GOV.UK and the DVLA, but finance, stolen and write-off records sit in private registers that cost money to access. Any “free” check that claims to include them is not checking those registers. A full history check from our partner AutoAid costs £6.99.

Does an HPI check show outstanding finance?

Yes — that is the main thing it is for, and the reason the company was founded in 1938. It tells you whether a hire purchase, PCP or other finance agreement is still secured against the car. If money is owed, the finance company legally owns the car, not the seller, and it can repossess it even after you have paid for it.

What do Cat S and Cat N mean?

They are insurance write-off categories. Cat S means the car suffered structural damage (frame or chassis) but can be repaired and returned to the road. Cat N means non-structural damage — panels, electrics, steering or brakes — and is also repairable. They replaced the old Cat C and Cat D in October 2017. Cat A and Cat B cars must be scrapped and should never be sold as driveable cars.

Will an HPI check tell me if a car has been in an accident?

Only if the accident led to an insurance write-off. A check shows write-off records, not every bump and scrape — damage repaired privately, without an insurance claim, leaves no record. That is why a history check is not a substitute for inspecting the car or getting a pre-purchase inspection.

Do I need an HPI check when buying from a dealer?

Yes. Dealers are covered by consumer law, which gives you more protection than a private sale — but a check still catches problems before they become disputes, and it costs a few pounds against the price of the car. It is most important of all in a private sale, where you have almost no comeback once the money has changed hands. Run it before you pay a deposit, whoever is selling.

Before you buy your next used car, run the plate through our free MOT checker and then get the full history check for £6.99 — finance, stolen, write-off, mileage and keepers, all in one report. It’s the cheapest part of buying a car, and the one that saves you from the most expensive mistake.